Farmers Bounty – User Guide

Complete documentation for using the Farmers Bounty WordPress plugin.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Getting Started
3. Features Overview
4. Configuration
5. Using the Plugin
6. Advanced Topics
7. FAQ
8. Support

Introduction

Farmers Bounty is a comprehensive WordPress plugin designed to help gardeners plan, maintain, and optimize their gardens according to local climate conditions and USDA hardiness zones.

Who Is This For?

• Home gardeners in Georgia
• Landscape professionals
• Community gardens
• Garden clubs and organizations
• Anyone interested in Georgia native plants

What You’ll Learn

This guide will teach you how to:

• Configure the plugin for your location
• Access zone-specific planting information
• Use garden planning tools
• Get seasonal gardening tips
• Identify and manage common pests

Getting Started

Requirements

• WordPress: Version 5.0 or higher
• PHP: Version 7.2 or higher
• MySQL: Version 5.6 or higher
• User Role: Administrator (for configuration)

Installation

See the Quick Start Guide for detailed installation instructions.

Features Overview

Current Features (v1.0.0)

1. Hardiness Zone Configuration

Set your specific Georgia hardiness zone (6a-9a) to receive customized recommendations.

2. Admin Dashboard

Centralized control panel with:

• Quick access to all features
• Overview of available tools
• Links to settings and documentation

3. Settings Management

Configure:

• Your hardiness zone
• Notification preferences
• Plugin behavior options

Coming Soon

• Planting Calendar: Month-by-month planting schedules
• Native Plant Database: Searchable database of Georgia natives
• Seasonal Tips: Automated reminders and advice
• Pest Guide: Identification and management strategies
• Garden Planner: Visual garden layout tools

Configuration

Accessing Settings

1. Log in to WordPress admin
2. Click Farmers Bounty in the left menu
3. Select Settings from the submenu

Hardiness Zone Settings

Understanding Georgia Zones

Zone 6a (-10°F to -5°F)

• Location: Highest elevations in North Georgia mountains
• Examples: Blairsville, Young Harris
• Growing Season: ~180 days

Zone 6b (-5°F to 0°F)

• Location: North Georgia mountains
• Examples: Blue Ridge, Ellijay
• Growing Season: ~190 days

Zone 7a (0°F to 5°F)

• Location: North Georgia foothills
• Examples: Dahlonega, Jasper
• Growing Season: ~200 days

Zone 7b (5°F to 10°F)

• Location: North Georgia / Northern Metro Atlanta
• Examples: Marietta, Roswell, Canton
• Growing Season: ~210 days

Zone 8a (10°F to 15°F)

• Location: Central Georgia / Most of Metro Atlanta
• Examples: Atlanta, Athens, Augusta
• Growing Season: ~220-240 days

Zone 8b (15°F to 20°F)

• Location: Central to South Georgia
• Examples: Macon, Columbus, Milledgeville
• Growing Season: ~240-260 days

Zone 9a (20°F to 25°F)

• Location: South Georgia / Coastal areas
• Examples: Savannah, Brunswick, Valdosta
• Growing Season: ~270+ days

Selecting Your Zone

1. In the Settings page, find the “Georgia Hardiness Zone” dropdown
2. Select the zone that matches your location
3. Click Save Changes

Tip: If you’re on a zone boundary, choose the colder zone to be safe with plant selections.

Notification Settings

Enable or disable seasonal gardening reminders:

• Enabled: Receive notifications about:
• Optimal planting times
• Seasonal maintenance tasks
• Weather-related alerts
• Pest prevention tips

• Disabled: No notifications will be sent

Using the Plugin

Dashboard Overview

The main Farmers Bounty dashboard provides:

1. Welcome Section

• Quick overview of plugin capabilities
• Feature highlights

1. Feature List

• Current available features
• Links to upcoming features

1. Quick Links

• Direct access to settings
• Documentation links
• Support resources

1. Getting Started Guide

• Step-by-step checklist
• Configuration tips

Zone-Specific Information

Once you’ve set your hardiness zone, the plugin customizes all recommendations for your area, including:

• Planting dates
• Plant varieties
• Maintenance schedules
• Pest alerts

Advanced Topics

Customization

The plugin is built with extensibility in mind. Developers can:

Hooks and Filters

// Example: Modify zone data
add_filter('georgia_gardener_zone_data', function($zone_data, $zone) {
    // Customize zone data
    return $zone_data;
}, 10, 2);

Custom Templates

Override plugin templates by copying them to your theme:

your-theme/
└── farmers-bounty/
    └── templates/
        └── your-template.php

Integration with Other Plugins

Farmers Bounty is designed to work alongside:

• SEO plugins
• Page builders
• Form plugins
• E-commerce plugins (for selling plants/supplies)

Performance Optimization

The plugin is optimized for performance:

• Minimal database queries
• Efficient asset loading
• Caching support
• Lazy loading where appropriate

FAQ

General Questions

Q: Can I use this plugin outside of Georgia? A: While optimized for Georgia, the plugin works in any location with similar USDA hardiness zones (6a-9a).

Q: Is the plugin free? A: Yes, Farmers Bounty is released under GPL v2 or later license.

Q: Will this work with my theme? A: Yes, the plugin is theme-agnostic and works with any properly coded WordPress theme.

Technical Questions

Q: What data does the plugin collect? A: The plugin only stores your zone preference and settings locally in your WordPress database.

Q: Is the plugin translation-ready? A: Yes, all text is internationalized and ready for translation.

Q: Can I contribute to the plugin? A: Yes! Contact the plugin author about contribution guidelines.

Troubleshooting

Q: Settings won’t save A: Check file permissions on your wp-content directory. Ensure they’re set to 755.

Q: Plugin menu doesn’t appear A: Verify you’re logged in with Administrator privileges.

Q: Conflicts with other plugins A: Try deactivating other plugins one by one to identify the conflict.

Support

Getting Help

1. Documentation: Review this guide and other documentation files
2. Quick Start: Check the Quick Start Guide
3. Troubleshooting: See the Troubleshooting Guide
4. Contact Support: Reach out to the plugin author

Reporting Bugs

When reporting bugs, include:

• WordPress version
• PHP version
• Active plugins
• Theme name and version
• Steps to reproduce
• Error messages (if any)

Feature Requests

We welcome feature suggestions! Please include:

• Description of the feature
• Use case / benefit
• Priority (nice to have / must have)

Botanical Garden AI Skills (v8.3.0+)

Farmers Bounty includes 30 specialist AI skills covering botanical garden roles in horticulture (11 skills), science & conservation (8 skills), education (7 skills), and outreach (4 skills). These provide domain expertise, professional workflows, terminology, and output templates. See CLAUDE.md or the v3.0.0 User Guide for the full inventory.

Additional Resources

• USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
• Georgia Extension Service
• Georgia Native Plant Society
• Georgia Master Gardeners